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Shadow Saga series
Shadow Saga series, also called the Peter Octavian series, by Christopher Golden. Genres and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy Series Description or Overview ✥ Book One in the Shadow Saga is a brilliant epic that takes you into the secret world of vampires—and a secret society sworn to destroy them. Sweeping, sensuous, and shocking, it is a powerful vision of immortality that will hold you in its spell...forever. ~ Goodreads ✥ When a mysterious and ancient book, called the Gospel of Shadows, is stolen from a secret sect dedicated to the destruction of vampires, private detective Peter Octavian—a vampire himself—is drawn into a desperate search for the missing book. ~ Of Saints and Shadows ~ FF ✥ A book has been stolen from the seemingly safe secret volt of the Vatican. But not just any book: this book could change the world as we know it. Full of secrets that have been hidden from the world with only a select few being able to research and use the book to do Gods work. Priest Liam Mulkerrin needs to find this book and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it back. Having researched the book he has awoken powers within himself of sorcery and is leaving a brutal and disturbing trail of death behind him. ~ Fantasy book review Lead's Species * Vampire, Vampire PI Primary Supe * Vampires What Sets it Apart * All of the myths about vampires were started by the Church as a way to control vampires. Narrative Type and Narrators * Third person narrative from Peter Octavian perspective. Books in Series Peter Octavian / Shadow Saga series: # Of Saints and Shadows (1994) # Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (1998) # Of Masques and Martyrs (1998) # The Gathering Dark (2003) # Waking Nightmares (2011) # The Graves of Saints (2013) # King of Hell (Jan 2014) ~ Final Other Writings Other Series (on site): * Veil series ~ Urban Fantasy * Menagerie Series ~ Urban Fantasy 'Urban Fantasy Anthologies': * Many Bloody Returns — Story: "The Mournful Cry of Owls" * Death's Excellent Vacation — Story: "Thin Walls" * Dark Duets (editor) — Story: * Four Summoner's Tales — Story: "Pipers" ~ More: Christopher Golden Christopher Golden has written many, many books and series: Sci-fy, Buffy, Star Wars, Fantasy and more. Links found below in the References section. Themes * Not all that is evil is bad and not all that is heavenly is good World Building Setting Chicago, Boston Places: * Shadow world * Venice: * San Francisco Supernatural Elements ✥ Para-PI, Vampires, mages, Shadows, witches, Reapers, earth witch, god of chaos, Vatican sorcerers, goblins, warrior-mage, demons, monsters, grimoire, vampire samurai, Gaea (a Goddess), minions of Hannibal, Glossary: * Gospel of Shadows: an old tome hidden in the vaults of the Vatican, book itself is a prize to the Church but a truth revealer if in the hands of a Vampire. * Coven: vampire "family" group * Shadows: vampires who had foresworn evil and fought alongside Peter Octavian 'Groups & Organizations': * Defiant Ones: Peter Octavian's original Coven—it's what the Church calls them; * Vatican: A secret sect of the Catholic Church, armed with an ancient book of the undead called The Gospel of Shadows, has been slowly destroying vampires for centuries. * U.N. task force: have a crazy commander— World ✥ It's your basic good vs. evil. The twist is that the roles have been reversed. This time around the vampires are the good guys and the church and it's agents are the bad guys. For what ever reason the church, while subjugating and even destroying other supernatural creatures, were never able to get the vampires under their total control. Instead they systematically brainwashed the vampires into controlling their own powers. All those myths about daylight, garlic, shape shifting limitations, all of those supposed limitations are false. They were all ploys used to get the vampires to act the way the church wanted them to. Peter Octavian is the first vampire to begin to realize the truth, he starts to go out in the daylight and even turn into a column of fire. But even he is unsure of how vast their powers really are. The theft of the book though changes the church's game plan. If that book falls into the hand of their enemies, The Defiant Ones make discover the truth. So the Church under the influence of Father Mulkerrin decides to take them out for once and for all, eliminate them all during their gathering in Venice. Little does Father Mulkerrin know what Peter and his allies, including Buffalo Bill Cody, have in store for them. ~ GR reader | Ryan The church assures the world that vampires do not exist; but if they did, they would be vanquished by a stake to the heart, silver, a crucifix, or sunlight. Yet while telling everyone that bloodsuckers are absolute fiction, the Vatican has been training supernatural assassins to hunt out and kill the undead. Vampires believe they will die in traditional ways, as they have been brainwashed by thousands of years' experience. Yet one of them fights against this, and suddenly church and vampires are racing to defeat the other. ~ GR reader | Amber Protagonist ✥ Centers on a vampire/private investigator, named Peter Octavian, living in the city of Chicago and discovering that the “random” case that he was working on may not be random after all. How could it not be when it involved seemingly indiscriminate killings of humans, with their corpses strewn around the crime scene and links to the Catholic Church. These same killings also coincide with the death of some prominent Vampires in their closed society as they are brutally hunted down by men of the cloth. One such Vampire happened to be Peter’s maker, a German Vampire who goes by his name of Karl Von Reinman. Peter Octavian: Peter was disowned from Karl’s Coven for he claimed that the Catholic Church lied to them and was actually covering up the truth in the hopes of subverting their existence and keeping them in check. These truths consisted of misinformation and a form of brainwashing; for Vampires can actually withstand the rays of the sun, can change into any form at will and like Peter proved at a later part in the book, can in fact, enter the Catholic Church and not be barred from it. Peter is no doubt the one who rallies his kind together in the hopes of exposing the lies that the Vatican has been spreading and hopefully inform as much he can of their kind; that all was lie. That the path for self discovery begins now. ~ GR reader | Caz Edmunds ✥ Detective Peter Octavian has been fighting with his guilt of what he is (a Vampire) for many many years and has dedicated his life in protecting humans and preserving live itself. Whilst working he stumbles across this path of murders, both human and vampire alike, and is trying to solve them but unbeknown to him he is getting closer to the book. Within it many Questions could be answered. With an all out war on the horizon things are beginning to get a little tense. ~ Fantasy book review Sidekick * Name: / What: / Sidekick-to: / About: / Book First Seen In: Characters Chart To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column. Or, in Source Mode: copy-paste rows. Author Christopher Golden * Website: Christopher Golden * Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Horror-Fantasy, Buffy-verse Bio: Christopher Golden was voted the third most popular science fiction author of the year 2000 by the readers of SFX magazine. He is the author of several dark fantasy novels and comic books in addition to numerous Buffy the Vampire Slayer adult novels and reference books which have made him a major UK bestseller. Cover Artist Artist: Craig White (later editions) — source: ISFdb Publishing Information * Publisher: Ace, Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, * Author Page: Christopher Golden Books - List at Simon & Schuster # Of Saints and Shadows: Paperback, 400 pgs, Pub Oct 1-1998 Ace—ISBN 0441005705 / Paperback, 391 pgs, Pub July 27-2010 byAce—ISBN 0441019056 # Angel Souls and Devil Hearts: Paperback, 416 pgs, Pub Nov 1st 1998 by Ace—ISBN 0441005780 / PB, 384 pgs, Pub Oct 1-2010 Simon & Schuster—ISBN 1847399258 / PB, 384 pgs, Pub Sept 28-2010 Ace—ISBN 0441019463 # Of Masques and Martyrs: # The Gathering Dark: # Waking Nightmares: # The Graves of Saints: # King of Hell: Book Cover Blurbs ✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Of Saints and Shadows (1994): When a mysterious and ancient book, called the Gospel of Shadows, is stolen from a secret sect dedicated to the destruction of vampires, private detective Peter Octavian—a vampire himself—is drawn into a desperate search for the missing book. ~ Of Saints and Shadows ~ FF ✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (1998): The Shadows have been exposed. The ancient vampiric race now finds itself in danger of the most powerful demon of all--human prejudice. In a world where the good are no longer recognizable from the bad, where Shadows are indeed the saints, a holy war is about to begin, pitting humans and vampires against the darkest demons of the Pit. ~ Goodreads | Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (Shadow Saga #2) ✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Of Masques and Martyrs (1998): Led by Peter Octavian, the Shadows must drink blood. Yet they do not steal life. New Shadows are created only by individual choice. Peace is their only hunger. The minions of Hannibal have a different goal: the enslavement of humanity. They kill for pleasure and for thirst. They indiscriminately create more of their own. And they embrace the title of terrible legend: vampire. Shadows and vampires. One and the same. Their war continues. ~ Goodreads | Of Masques and Martyrs (Shadow Saga #3) ✤ BOOK FOUR BLURB—The Gathering Dark (2003): The Gospel of Shadows has been destroyed, leaving the barriers between the human world and paranormal realms wide open. Only Peter Octavian, a powerful mage-and former vampire-can save mankind. ~ Goodreads | The Gathering Dark (Shadow Saga #4) ✤ BOOK FIVE BLURB—Waking Nightmares (2011): Peter Octavian, once a vampire, now a powerful mage, has been living a quiet life in San Francisco. But when the barrier that used to prevent demons and monsters from entering the world have fallen, Octavian is compelled to do what he can to hold back the darkness. ~Goodreads | Waking Nightmares (Shadow Saga #5) ✤ BOOK SIX BLURB—The Graves of Saints (2013): For centuries, Vatican sorcerers kept demons and monsters out of our world with the magic found in a grimoire called The Gospel of Shadows. Years ago, to save his people from madmen, Peter Octavian defeated those sorcerers and the Gospel of Shadows itself was banished from the Earth. Ever since, the evils and monstrosities lurking in parallel worlds have been waking to the realization that our magical defences are down - the barriers keeping them out of our world are crumbling. With massive demonic incursions in locations around the world, Octavian should be focused on using his own sorcery to drive the evil out and rebuild our defences. But a renegade vampire named Cortez has murdered the person Octavian loves the most and, even with his friends and allies around him, he is so lost in grief that he can think of nothing but revenge. There are others who can fight the darkness—mages and Shadows, witches and Reapers and vampire samurai—but only the warrior-mage, Peter Octavian, can defeat it. If he will answer the call. ~ Goodreads | The Graves of Saints by Christopher Golden ✤ BOOK SEVEN BLURB—King of Hell (Jan 2014): Peter Octavian's powerful sorcery guards his world against evil. Now he must go on a perilous journey to save those condemned to a fate worse than death itself… When Octavian called upon Gaea to rid the Earth of demons, her magic banished not only the demons but also the Shadows - vampires who had foresworn evil and fought alongside him, some for many years. Together with two unlikely companions - a wise-cracking goblin with the ability to walk the paths between worlds, and a demon changeling struggling to come to terms with what he is - Octavian sets out on what seems to be an impossible mission: to free his friends from Hell. There he finds some unexpected figures from his past - and an enemy of his own making, driven by an implacable hatred, whose power is equal to his own and whose quest for vengeance is personal… ~ Goodreads | King of Hell (The Shadow Saga) First Sentences # Of Saints and Shadows (1994) — HIS MEMORY IS LIKE A TORNADO ACROSS time, touching down to pick up a single event or person and carrying it away until it is dropped in favor of something else. # Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (1998) — "It's actually quite intimidating," Allison said. # Of Masques and Martyrs (1998) — AT THE CENTER OF NEW ORLEANS'S FRENCH Quarter, Bourbon Street was all flash; garish face paint obscuring the true identity of the most fascinating city in America. # The Gathering Dark (2003) — A light spring breeze whispered down off the mountains and gently swayed the hand-carved chimes that hung outside the propped-open door of Sweet Somethings. # Waking Nightmares (2011) — Octavian climbed out of the professor's car, hoping they had come to this grimy corner of Montreal on a fool's errand, that there would be no monster tonight. # The Graves of Saints (2013) — # King of Hell (Jan 2014) — The trouble with living as long as Peter Octavian had was that the past waited around every corner, draped in shadow and cobwebbed with forgotten faces and bittersweet memories. Quotes * Christopher Golden Quotes (Author of The New Dead) ~ Goodreads * Shadow Saga Series ~Shelfari Read Alikes (similar elements) * Fated Blades series * Magic Ex Libris series * Vampire Files series * Vampire Empire series * Vampire Assassin / Assassini Trilogy * Bloodhound Files series * Magic Ex Libris series * Remy Chandler series * Matthew Swift series * Dresden Files series * Piers Knight series * Cal Leandros series * Nightside series * Secret Histories series * Vampire Babylon series * Vampire Files series * Victoria Nelson series * Sabina Kane series * Void City series * Fangborn series * Anna Strong Chronicles * Bite Back series * Joe Pitt series * Secret McQueen series See Category links at bottom of page Awards Trivia *Lists That Contain Of Saints and Shadows (Shadow Saga #1) by Christopher Golden *Lists That Contain Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (Shadow Saga #2) by Christopher Golden *only these Notes See Also * UF Book Release Schedules * List of Sidekicks * List of Vampires of Urban Fantasy * Characters (category) * List of UF Anthologies * List of Cover Artists * Urban Fantasy Links ~ list of UF websites * Category links at bottom of page Trivia & Notes First Sentence: His memory is like a tornado across time, touching down to pick up a single event or person and carrying it away until it is dropped in favor of something else. Shelfari External References Books: * Christopher Golden ~ Author *Shadow Saga by Christopher Golden ~ Goodreads *Christopher Golden - FF *Shadow Saga II (Christopher Golden) - Series Bibliography ~ ISFdb *Shadow Saga Series ~ Shelfari *Shadow Saga series by Christopher Golden ~ FictFact *The Shadow Saga | Series ~ LibraryThing *Christopher Golden - Summary Bibliography ~ ISFdb (author) Summaries: * World, Characters, etc: *Shadow Saga Series ~ Shelfari Reviews: *Of Saints and Shadows by Christopher Golden book review *Review: Of Saints and Shadows, Christopher Golden « Medieval Bookworm *Of Saints and Shadows by Christopher Golden | Owlcat Mountain *Review: Of Saints and Shadows By Christopher Golden ~ The Fringe Magazine Artist: * Author: *Christopher Golden *No Rest for the Wicked - blog *Goodreads | Christopher Golden (Author of The New Dead) Community, Fan Sites: *(3) Christopher Golden *Christopher Golden (ChristophGolden) on Twitter Gallery of Book Covers Newsaints.jpg|1. Of Saints and Shadows (2010 by Ace—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden—Art: Craig White|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7606983-of-saints-and-shadows 2 AngeSouls.jpg|2. Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (2010 by Ace—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden—Art: Craig White|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7928014-angel-souls-and-devil-hearts 3 Of Masques and Martyrs.jpg|3. Of Masques and Martyrs (2010, Ace—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden—Art: Craig White|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48419.Of_Masques_and_Martyrs 4 Gathering Dark .jpg|4. The Gathering Dark (2011 by Ace—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden—Art: Craig White|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11465516-the-gathering-dark 5 Waking Nightmares.jpg|5. Waking Nightmares (2011, Ace—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden—Art: Craig White|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8566125-waking-nightmares 6 Graves of Saints.jpg|6. The Graves of Saints (March 14, 2013—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17706590-the-graves-of-saints 7 King of Hell.jpg|7. King of Hell (January 16, 2014—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=http://www.christophergolden.com/shadowsaga.html Of Saints and Shadows (Shadow Saga -1) by Christopher Golden-2010.jpg|1. Of Saints and Shadows (2010 by Pocket—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden b2-Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (Shadow Saga #2) by Christopher Golden.jpg|2. Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (2010 by Simon & Schuster—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9975573-of-masques-and-martyrs-christopher-golden b3-Of Masques and Martyrs (2010, Pocket Books—Shadow Saga #3) by Christopher Golden .jpg|3. Of Masques and Martyrs (2010, Pocket Books—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9975573-of-masques-and-martyrs-christopher-golden b4-The Gathering Dark (Shadow Saga #4) by Christopher Golden.jpg|4. The Gathering Dark (—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11497490-the-gathering-dark b5-Waking Nightmares. by Christopher Golden (Shadow Saga #5) .jpg|5. Waking Nightmares (2011 by Simon & Schuster—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11779073-waking-nightmares-by-christopher-golden b6-The Graves of Saints (Shadow Saga #6) .jpg|6. The Graves of Saints (2013, by Simon & Schuster—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17706593-the-graves-of-saints v3-b2-Angel Souls and Devil Hearts.jpg|2. Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (1998 by Ace—Shadow Saga series) by Christopher Golden|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48427.Angel_Souls_and_Devil_Hearts Category:Paranormal Detectives as Main Supe Category:Vampires as Main Supe Category:Vampire PI Category:Sorcerers Category:Mages Category:Grimoire, Magical Books Category:Shadow and Mist Beings Category:Gods Category:Demons Category:Reapers Category:Goblins Category:Witches Category:Warriors Category:Magical Objects Category:Magic Users Category:Monsters Category:Christian and Jewish Mythologies Category:Paranormal Detectives: Cop or P.I. Category:Vampires Category:Male Lead Category:Series Category:Elementals Category:Completed Series